Minnesota Independent: Bachmann: Blaming minority lending for economic crisis ‘does not mean I’m a racist’

Minnesota Independent (9/29/08)

Bachmann: Blaming minority lending for economic crisis ‘does not mean I’m a racist’

The fracas over her statements put Bachmann on the defensive over the weekend. “It was an unfair characterization of my remarks,” she told the St. Cloud Times, referring to a Roll Call article about her statements. “I read a portion of an article critical of the Community Reinvestment Act, which I’m not a fan of. They were not my words.”

Bachmann was reading from an opinion piece by Terry Jones, an editor for Investor’s Business Daily, a financial newspaper geared toward executives and with a decidedly conservative bent.

“[CRA] may in the future inhibit ownership for minorities and communities of color,” she said. “It does not mean that I’m a racist … because I’m critical of that bill.”